


Kisuke Should Not Be Upright When Tired

by DevinePhoenix



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-War, Soul King AU, Soul King Ichigo, UraIchi Week 2018, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevinePhoenix/pseuds/DevinePhoenix
Summary: UraIchi week 2018, Day 3: SOMETHING!Ichigo and/or SOMETHING!Urahara | Creatures & Monsters/Supernatural Elements AUAs they're preparing to haul Ywach's corpse onto the the Throne, Ichigo decides that putting a mass murdering psycho right where he wants to be, even when dead, is a Bad Idea.  SoulKing!Ichigo





	Kisuke Should Not Be Upright When Tired

**Author's Note:**

> I have never read a single bit of this arc, what I've pieced together comes from my vague understanding of the wiki.
> 
> Things I am assuming(If they are correct that’s great): The throne is an actual physical thing, Soul King must have all three kinds of reiatsu
> 
> Please have patience with me if there's something catastrophically wrong with the canon. (If it's wrong, then I guess this is an AU)

“The throne,” Ichigo hummed, staring at the pale and simple throne where the previous king had been entombed. “It can only be held by a combination of someone with all kinds of reiatsu?”

“Yeah.” Urahara nodded, limping forward, weight leaning heavily on Benihime. “The Soul King’s supposed to be the nexus point of the three worlds, so they should have all three kinds of reiatsu. Ywach’s corpse should keep the worlds going for a little while. He’s absorbed all kinds of reiatsu so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

They were supposed to be clearing out the debris but exhaustion weighed heavily on them. At this point, they were only upright out of stubbornness. Thankfully, they only had to clear out the area just enough to drag Ywach’s corpse to the throne, somebody else was providing the muscle for that. They were at a weird mid-point in triage, where they weren’t in danger of death but were still seriously injured. They didn’t have the luxury of manpower in the king’s realm though, so the two of them had volunteered to help out with a less strenuous job.

Ichigo had _stared_ the first time he saw Kisuke’s stitched up face but the man had just waved his concern off with a tired huff. He could tell that the scientist was flagging badly though, from the way his Onmitsukidō grace had descended into clumsy stumbling.

It was something he had first noticed during late nights in the lab, where he would run into chairs and table edges when exhausted, and at the conclusion of their more violent spars, where Kisuke had more than once almost taken a header into the hot springs from tripping over his own feet. He never did it in combat, no matter how tired he got, but exhaustion out of combat made Kisuke forget where to put his own limbs.

Even as he watched the man limping up the hall, he could see him take a slight stumble as he slipped on rubble. Ichigo sighed in relief. Kisuke’s stitches appeared to be holding, despite his clumsiness.

“That’s kinda messed up.” The hybrid declared. “Even if he’s a corpse, putting that psycho on the throne leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Well it’s the only option.” Kisuke shrugged. “Even if Ukitake is the ‘right-hand of the Soul King’, he doesn’t seem to be able to take the final jump to take the throne.”

“Hey, Getaboushi…”

The shopkeeper recognized that particular look on his dear student’s face. Part determination, part stubbornness and all defiance. He knew it intimately, because he had often seen it on his own face.

“ ** _I_** can sit on the throne, can’t I?”

Kisuke shrugged. “I wasn’t going to bring it up. I figured you’d be happy returning to your mortal life after this mess.”

Ichigo shot him a glare. “This entire mess…most of the messes I’ve been subject to, have been because there wasn’t an active Soul King keeping the balance. Even if I just leave this like this, there’s still nobody regulating anything. There’s no guarantee I won’t end up in yet another disaster.”

Kisuke looked at him, his face flat but something close to pity in his eyes. “You’d never be able to return to the living world, you realize. Or even Soul society. You wouldn’t be able to leave the Royal realm. You won’t be able to see your sisters until they die and maybe not even then.”

Ichigo held his gaze, amber eyes resolute. “I can’t let them die and suffer in this shitty afterlife either.”

He strode forward obstinately, his choice made. Kisuke clumsily flash stepped in front of him, landing with a stumble and a wince, hands raised up to placate him. Ichigo’s hands reflexively came up to steady him, his eyes quickly checking his stitches over.

“Hey now! There no need to rush! I can hold this wreck together for a few hours. Go say goodbyes, sort yourself out. I don’t want you _regretting_ this.” Kisuke insisted.

Ichigo shot him a flat stare. “And how exactly are you going to keep this wreck together. I was under the impression we had half an hour at best before _all of reality unravelled_.”

“Uh…” Kisuke was desperately wishing his hat and fan had survived the fighting so he could hide his face from his student’s disapproving glower.

“ _Kisuke_.” Ichigo growled. “I refuse for that bastard to be on the throne, even for a second. _I refuse._ ”

He stepped past him, eyes fixed on the cursed throne ahead. He didn’t want power or prestige, he just would rather like it if the universe would stop trying to kill him and the people he held dear.

“Ichi-!”

Ichigo sat on the throne just as Kisuke stumbled over the top step and slammed into him.

The reiastsu of the three worlds crashed ruthlessly into Ichigo, and from him into Kisuke. The scientist choked, drowning in reiatsu. His reserves were too low, his body too battered and abused from the fighting to withstand the rushing torrent. Benihime was screaming in rage and denial through his soul. Kisuke could feel his entire self being unmade, unravelling at the seams as the seat rejected him.

**_NO!_ **

Ichigo denied his unmaking. A flat refusal of another loss. And he had the power now. The power to deny the world and _make it listen_. He had always denied the world’s judgement before, but the world had never listened before. People he meant to protect had still died.

He was the Soul King, nexus point of the three worlds.

Now he could scream NO.

And all the worlds would scream NO right along with him.

Kisuke took a gasping breath, feeling disoriented and remade down to his very core. He could still feel Benihime just the same as before but now there was a spark-bright thread connecting his soul to the new king. He could feel Ichigo on a level he couldn’t comprehend before, his soul bright and warm and powerful beyond human measurement.

“M-my king.” Kisuke choked out, from his sprawled kneel at the foot of the throne.

“Left hand of the Soul King.” Ichigo declared shakily, resting a hand on the scientist’s head, feeling just as shattered. “Aspect of Evolution.”

**Author's Note:**

> I read somewhere that the left-hand of the soul was the aspect of evolution? Which I thought fitted Kisuke nicely with his whole, always breaking the boundaries of science thing. And then there's also the convention left-hand thing, where they're the people who are capable of doing what needs to be done for their leader, even if it involves bodies and poison and back-hand methods.  
> Yeah so Ichigo may be stuck upstairs fixing the whole world, but he's in good company.


End file.
